Kirk Cousins wasted no time making a huge mistake for Vikings

Kirk Cousins messed up early against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Minnesota Vikings are leaning on the right arm of Kirk Cousins more than they usually do in their Week 6 game against the Atlanta Falcons, as star running back Dalvin Cook is currently on the mend. While Cousins has won games with his arm in the past, he has gotten off to just about the worst start possible.

Cousins was intercepted on the first pass of the game. Not only was this brutal for a struggling Vikings team, but it comes against a patchwork Atlanta secondary that is playing their first game under new head coach Raheem Morris after weeks of getting shredded by stars and average joes alike.

Kirk Cousins gifted the Falcons some easy points

While Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson have been exceptional this season, Cousins hasn’t been himself this season, as he had just eight touchdown passes before throwing interception No. 8 early in this game. Cousins’ ability to avoid the big mistake and efficiently move the ball down the field was his calling card, but Gary Kubiak hasn’t been able to get that trait on him.

The Falcons wasted no time taking advantage of the mistake from Cousins and Minnesota, as Matt Ryan floated a touchdown to Julio Jones for the first time this season to give winless Atlanta a quick 7-0 lead on the road. A quick field goal on their second possession gave Atlanta a 10-0 lead.

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Cousins needed to put the team on his back against a winless Falcons team, but we’ve instead seen him throw an awful interception that gave a team without any momentum to speak of a shot in the arm. Cousins was struggling with Cook, so don’t expect a virtuoso performance with Alexander Mattison in his place.